The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 11

“Summer’s coming soon anyway. Monsters don’t appear in summer. At most, we just need to endure three months. In exchange for Erenta, we’ll give you corn.”

I obtained one piece of information this way.

The food with the largest stockpile at Baron Hawin’s estate right now was corn.

“Well, Dahlia.”

I shrugged my shoulders and said.

“No matter how isolated the situation, would you really give up Erenta where you can fish for just corn?”

Then Dahlia grinned.

“The Marang fish won’t be in season anyway. They only return in winter. So you’ll survive a month catching and eating small fish?”

The Erenta River had a fatal weakness. Zion grass, which fish didn’t particularly like, grew there.

So even though it was a river, usually only small fish swam around.

However, since Marang fish laid their eggs among the Zion grass, the territory residents didn’t cut the Zion grass. That was more profitable when viewed on a yearly basis.

In other words, it meant they couldn’t survive just by fishing.

“Brisa, are you planning to starve all the territory residents to death? You can’t survive by tearing up and eating your pretty dresses.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, you took Jezel Street and Baron Plains along with all the territory residents. We don’t have many territory residents left. About fifty households fishing in Erenta?”

Originally, territory residents were people who would accept things as they were even when their lord changed, unless something unusual happened. It was just a matter of the person they paid taxes to changing.

Moreover, our father wasn’t a lord who communicated with the territory residents.

“Taking everything during Father’s funeral thinking it was the perfect opportunity, then pretending to worry doesn’t make sense. Ah, no, I suppose it could make sense.”

“Right. The past is the past, and now is now…”

“Dahlia, you weren’t particularly smart to begin with. So I suppose you could say things that don’t add up.”

It took Dahlia a moment to understand what I meant.

After a brief silence, Dahlia got angry.

“You… what do you mean by that?”

“I mean you’ll be more desperate to feed the suddenly increased number of territory residents.”

I deliberately paused for a moment, then tilted my head and asked.

“When we’re both in difficult situations, why should I cooperate with you?”

There was a reason I was dealing with her like this instead of just driving her away.

I couldn’t understand why she had suddenly come to visit.

‘She came right away saying she wants Erenta? Something’s strange.’

Indeed, as soon as I showed signs of having the upper hand, Dahlia immediately fell for it.

She boasted proudly.

“Baron Forman is currently staying at our estate.”

That was somewhat unexpected.

“…You mean Baron Forman from the Western Region?”

“Yes. He came to visit an acquaintance briefly but got stranded because of the warp. He’s too old to risk taking an unstable warp, so he seems quite flustered right now.”

This was information I didn’t know.

The Western Region should be extremely busy right now dealing with their own monster wave.

Moreover, Baron Forman had been a trusted aide who worked as Grand Duke Nogen’s informant. Though he was already a retired old man.

But why was he here?

‘And… Baron Forman is Leopold Nogen’s maternal grandfather.’

In other words, he was also part of Grand Duke Nogen’s in-law family.

Though there was quite a difference in family status and they even had a master-servant relationship, Leopold’s parents had married for love, which was extremely rare among noble families.

Though both had passed away during the monster wave ten years ago.

So Leopold had become an orphan at the age of four.

‘Leopold Nogen…’

I unconsciously recalled the tall boy with jet-black hair and golden eyes.

‘Since I know the future, I don’t need to worry about Leopold’s life or death.’

Leopold would return safely from this monster wave.

That was at least fortunate.

I swallowed a sigh as I recalled the bouquet that had come to me on the day I handled the broken engagement.

Though it was sent anonymously, I could guess who had sent it.

Anyway, I thought there would be no particular reason to get entangled with him in the future, but his maternal grandfather was in the Central Region.

Dahlia lifted her chin and continued speaking.

“This is our chance to become vassals of His Grace Grand Duke Nogen. If we show him that we can overcome this crisis well.”

Oh, Uncle… You have big dreams…

I could understand why he had sent Dahlia to me.

Right now, Baron Hawin was too busy fawning over Baron Forman to have time for anything else.

“We will wisely overcome this crisis well, Brisa. Under the watchful eyes of His Grace Grand Duke Nogen.”

Dahlia spoke proudly as if the Baron Hawin family had already become a vassal family of House Nogen.

“It’s tremendous… truly tremendous luck. That our excellence can be reported to the ducal house at every turn.”

“Don’t you think your shortcomings could also be reported at every turn?”

“That’s impossible. You know that horse prices are soaring because Warp is malfunctioning, right?”

Baron Hawin was someone who had achieved military merit. In other words, unlike us, he had possessed a knight order from the beginning.

Moreover, the barony he was granted had originally been a place where horses were raised on a small scale.

“We’re going to sell the horses and exchange them for dairy cows. Then we’ll get milk and be able to make butter and cheese. It would be helpful if you took note of this too…”

Dahlia looked at me and smiled deeply. Then she added dramatically.

“Oh right, you don’t have horses, do you? Since you don’t have a knight order.”

It seemed Dahlia didn’t know yet that Alpheus had formed a knight order.

I didn’t bother to correct her.

“Anyway, you and we are now in different leagues.”

Dahlia raised her eyebrows.

“So I’m giving you the first opportunity. Your livelihood is precarious, isn’t it? So hand over Erenta. I’ll give you a good price. We’re blood relatives and neighbors after all, aren’t we?”

“Right. Blood relatives and neighbors, that’s correct.”

I nodded and spoke calmly.

“When your livelihood becomes precarious too, hand over Jezel Street. I’ll give you a good price. Even though it was originally ours.”

“Originally yours?”

Dahlia asked back coldly.

She had already noticed that the negotiations had failed, and seemed quite offended by my use of the word “originally.”

She glared at me and said.

“Your father stole everything from our father for the single reason that he was born the eldest son.”

“So that’s how you describe following the Empire’s inheritance laws these days.”

“Shut up. Those arrogant types without any real ability always end up falling like vermin eventually.”

“Really? Then Hawin’s downfall should be quite a sight to see, so I’ll definitely come watch.”

Finally, Dahlia shot up from her seat.

“Arrogant to the very end, Brisa.”

Her sky-blue eyes glared at me fiercely.

“And you’re rude to the very end, Dahlia.”

I shrugged my shoulders while remaining seated.

“I noticed earlier that your tea was sloshing around too much when you held your teacup. You should practice more. Especially in front of Baron Forman.”

Dahlia gasped at my criticism.

The maids, sensing this was their moment, let out suppressed coughs as they tried to hold back their laughter. By their standards, “not being able to hold a teacup properly” was the greatest insult in this entire conversation.

A moment of silence passed.

“I too…”

After the silence, Dahlia glared at me.

“If I had a mother from royal lineage too, I would have held a teacup much better. Don’t act so superior. Baron Forman decided to stay at Hawin, not Sears.”

“You need to draw out the ‘For’ sound longer. Proper nouns from the Western Region should be pronounced more like ancient language.”

“Stop showing off! I could have known that too if I had gone to Capital Academy!”

“Ah.”

Now all the mysteries seemed to be unraveling.

My goodness, even the maids could be right sometimes. Their opinion had been correct.

“You must have been envious of me, Dahlia. So you were jealous.”

At that, Dahlia shot me a fierce look, then whirled around and left the reception room. She would obviously run straight to her parents at Hawin Mansion to throw a tantrum.

I let out a deep sigh from exhaustion.

Why would anyone envy such things? What’s so special about holding a teacup without the tea sloshing?

I didn’t need a mother from royal lineage or Capital Academy.

‘What I need is…’

Just parents I could return to and vent about “this is what happened.”

An adult who could recognize danger and somehow find out why Warp wasn’t working.

Why do they criticize me as if I was born with so much?

When she herself had possessed from the beginning what I had always desperately longed for.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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